Disclaimer: I don't own the Charmed characters I just like to watch the show and write about it... the characters of Lori, Brandon, Kimberly, Greg, Jacob, Michael, Michelle, and Halley are mine. Enjoy another short story from the archives of me.
It was seven in the morning and time to get Melinda, Lori and Brandon off to school. The little black alarm clock on Piper's side of the bed sounded its presents making Piper give a low grown, not wanting her dream to end. She ever so slowly turned to Leo and gave him a soft shake before she slid out from under the warm covers. Leo slowly woke up and rolled off the bed and onto the cold wood floor. Piper was already in the shower by the time Leo even got into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
"Piper where did you put my toothbrush?" Leo asked in his scratchy morning tone.
"Brandon tried using it on Kit so I bought you a new one it's on the top shelf in the second cabinet." Piper answered under the warmth of the shower.
"Mom Kimberly's awake." Melinda said from the other side of the door.
"Can you get her a bottle from the fridge?" Piper yelled so she would hear her.
"Sure." She answered simply.
Piper turned off the warm water and got out of the shower. Leo took this opportunity to jump in and take control of the shower before any of the other four people in the house could. Piper got dressed and did her hair in a simple half pony leaving two tiny strings of hair dangle in front of her face. She then left to go and wake Brandon up so they wouldn't be late this time.
"Brandon it's time for school." Piper said before opening the door.
"Okay."
"Brandon I thought I told you to clean up you room yesterday, It's a mess." Piper said walking into the room.
"Mom I can't find my shoe!" Lori yelled from downstairs.
"Brandon don't forget to brush your teeth we're leaving in twenty minutes." Piper said leaving the room.
"Mom I can't find my shoe!" Lori yelled again.
"Hold on Lori I'll be there in a minute." Piper said walking down the stairs to where Lori was yelling.
Piper had four children; Melinda who was the oldest at the age of ten, followed by Lori who was eight, next in line was Brandon who was six and just starting kindergarten. The last of the four children was little Kimberly who was only four months old. She had been a total surprise to Piper and Leo especially after Piper was told she wasn't able to have anymore children. Lori was always losing things like her shoes and homework; she never seemed to remember where she put anything.
"Lori where did you leave it?" Piper asked getting down to Lori's level.
"I don't know maybe Kit ran off with it." She said.
"Honey you can't always blame the cat when you miss place something."
"Fine but I don't remember where I left them." She said stubbornly.
Piper couldn't come up with anything to say back to her daughter so she just started to look for the lost shoe. She ended up finding it where it had been placed for the last week behind the couch again. Piper handed the small shoe to waiting Lori and walked back up the stairs to get Kimberly ready for daycare. Melinda had always been a big help with Kimberly and Piper loved that her youngest daughter was always fed and ready when she came up to get her dressed.
"Thank you Melinda."
"No problem Mom, I love helping with Kimberly." She said running back to her room to grab her backpack.
"Okay little one what should we dress you in today?" Piper asked the little girl.
She knew she wasn't going to get an answer but she liked talking to little Kimberly anyway. She ended up dressing her in a little pink outfit with her name on it in bright purple letters. It wasn't long before all of the children were ready to go the only person missing was Leo. He was still in the shower, not wanting to get out and face everything in his life. Piper gave Kimberly to Melinda and she went upstairs to get Leo to get out of the shower and into the car.
"Leo everyone's ready but you. What is going on?" Piper asked walking into the bathroom.
"Go ahead and drop the kids off I have some things to do here first." He told her.
"Like what?" Piper wanted to know.
"I was going to call Phoebe and see if her and Cole wouldn't mind a few extra kids tonight."
"Oh a night to ourselves?" Piper questioned.
"Yeah we haven't had a break since Kimberly was born and Phoebe hasn't seen the kids in how long?"
"Almost a year she hasn't even seen Kimberly."
"Go ahead and get them to school and Kimberly to daycare while I call Phoebe and see if they can take the kids."
"You got it!" Piper said excitedly.
Piper quickly walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs to the front door where all four of the children were waiting for her. She got them all loaded into the car and drove them to school. Brinker Elementary was only five minutes away so they were there in a flash. Melinda, Lori and Brandon got out of the car and ran into the school. Lori of course forgot her backpack and had to run back out and get it.
Ten minutes later Piper drove into the parking lot of the Red Evening Daycare Center. She shut off the car and took Kimberly into the building and gave her to the person in charge for that day. Kimberly did her usual cry while Piper left and that always got to Piper because she hated when any of her children cried. As soon as she left the Daycare Center it only took her ten minutes to get back to the manor.
"Leo where are you?" She yelled walking into the foyer.
"Kitchen!" He yelled back happily.
"Well what did Phoebe say?" Piper asked after giving him a kiss.
"She said that she would pick them up at four."
Piper got a smile on her face spreading from ear to ear. She was so happy that she got her sister to take the children because she and Leo really needed to spend some time with each other alone. She couldn't believe that she caught her sister at a good time, usually Phoebe was out of town on business. They were finally going to get some time to themselves and didn't have to have the children to take care of tonight.
"I can't believe she is doing this for us!" She said excitedly.
"Yeah all that she asks is that we don't tell Paige because then she will want her to watch her children."
"What did you tell her?" Piper asked.
"That we wouldn't say one word to her." Leo replied.
Paige had two little boys named Jacob and Michael. They were little terrors when they were together but most of the time Michael was the only one with Paige. Jacob always wanted to be with his father Greg. Paige and Greg were not divorced but Greg was usually out of town or at the office. Phoebe had married Cole and had one little girl named Michelle. She was around Lori's age and they always looked forward to the times that they got to see each other.
"So what are we going to do on our night together alone?" Piper asked.
"Well I thought that we might watch a movie and curl up on the couch." Leo suggested.
"Hold that thought while I go and pick up the kids." Piper said getting up.
She walked to the door and grabbed her coat. She put on her shoes and grabbed her keys before she headed out the door to pick up Kimberly from Day Care. She talked to the person in charge to see what her little girl did all day. It didn't take long before Piper was on her way to Brinker Elementary school. Once she got there she waited for Melinda Brandon and Lori to come out and get in the car. Melinda was the first to jump in but not long after the other two pilled into the backseat.
"Mom can I have Halley over tonight?" Melinda asked once they got home.
"Oh honey I'm sorry but you're going to Aunt Phoebe's house."
"I get to see Michelle!" Lori said excitedly.
"Yes you get to see Michelle now go and get your stuff before I leave you behind!" Piper said putting Kimberly in her carrier.
"You guys almost ready?" Phoebe said letting herself into the manor.
"Auntie Phoebe!" Melinda yelled running down the stairs.
"Hey Mellie, How's my favorite little girl?" She said as Melinda jumped into her arms.
"I thought I was your favorite." Lori said walking into the room.
"You both are."
"Dopey shut up." Melinda told Lori. "I'm fine. How are you?" She asked her Aunt.
"My name's not Dopey!" Lori shouted at her older sister.
"Hey Pheebs you weren't suppose to be here until four." Piper said getting Kimberly's things together and putting them in the Winnie the Pooh diaper bag.
Brandon had been ready for a while now and was outback playing with his kickball. Cole had been waiting in the car but when he saw Brandon playing by himself he took Michelle and brought her to the backyard with him. They just sat there watching him for a few minutes before Michelle got board and asked Cole something, making Brandon notice that someone was watching him play.
"Daddy can I go inside and play with Lori?" Michelle asked.
"Sure Princess the door is right there." Cole said pointing to the door.
As soon as Cole pointed to the door Michelle was off running as fast as she could to get to the back door. Brandon then walked over to Cole and gave him a big hug. It wasn't often that they got to see each other and being that Brandon was the only boy in the house made it somewhat hard for him. Cole held out his hand for the little boy to take and soon they were playing kickball together waiting for the girls to get ready.
"Hey Uncle Cole can we do this more often?" Brandon asked blocking Cole's shot.
"Sure slugger." Cole said trying unsuccessfully to block Brandon's shot.
After Brandon shot the ball at Cole a good fifty times never missing a goal, he looked up at his uncle. Brandon found that Cole was sweating and breathing heavily not use to playing soccer with him. He helped his tired uncle into the manor and helped him sit down at the kitchen table. They sat and talked while Piper got the girls ready. Lori was running around the house trying to find her favorite bear. She had brought it out into the living room where she was watching a movie with her big sister the night before. Cole saw this and went to help the young girl look for the missing object.
"Lori where's your toothbrush?" Piper yelled.
"I don't know. I can't find teddy!" She said up the stairs.
"Mom I found it." Melinda said from her bedroom.
"Is this what your looking for Lori?" Cole said holding the lost bear up.
"Teddy! Thank you Uncle Cole." She shouted jumping into his open arms.
About an hour later all four children were ready to go and Piper and Leo watched as Cole pulled the minivan away from the manor. Piper waved until she could no longer see the minivan before looking at Leo with a playful look on her face. Leo smiled and took her hand as the two ran up the stairs to the front door and slid inside closing the door behind them. Leo didn't know what she had in store for him but he knew it couldn't be that bad.
"Piper what are you doing?" Leo asked sitting on the bed watching her search the drawers.
"Looking for something."
"What maybe I can help?" Leo asked wanting to help.
"Ah-ha I found it." Piper said showing him the book.
"Piper it's a puzzle book." Leo said confused.
"Yeah with only one puzzle left. I was saving it for a rainy night alone with the one I love."
"One problem with your plan, it's not raining."
Just then they heard a loud boom coming from the sky and Piper gave Leo a look saying, 'want to make a bet.' Leo hung his head asking himself why in the world he said that because he knew it was just a matter of time before it would start raining. Piper grinned taking the book in her arms and grabbing a pen from the desk as she ran down the stairs into the den. Leo followed and found her pointing to the fireplace.
"You want me to start the fire?" He questioned.
"Please, it's cold in here." She said with a puppy face.
"How can I resist!" He said walking to the door trying to find the right switch.
"Thank you… Now come on help me out here."
"Okay what are you looking for?"
"What is a fourth of a horse?"
As the fire crackled on the two sat in the chair completely puzzled. Leo thought back to his farm days about forty years ago. He remembered raising horses and they had all types from Purebred to Appaloosa Quarter horses. Wait a minute that was it a fourth of a horse would be a Quarter horse. They spent ten minutes racking their brains over a Quarter horse!
"It has to be a Quarter horse."
The evening past by as Piper and Leo found the missing pieces to the crossword puzzle. Afterwards quietly sitting by the fire, cuddling close as they both drifted off to sleep in the comfort of each other's arms. They didn't have a care in the world and were content just being together.